Mike Ferguson, owner of the Forfar ice rink in Scotland, joins us to talk all things Scottish Curling. We discuss how to address declining interest in curling in Scotland, their return to play during the pandemic and the newly created British Players Curling Championship.
Forfar Indoor Sports
Scottish Curling’s Return to Play Guidelines
British Players Curling Championship
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One of the newest member associations in World Curling is Nigeria. Harold Woods III, who skipped Team Nigeria at the 2019 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, joins us to discuss his start in curling, the history of the Nigerian Curling Federation and how they are working to grow the sport there. We also talk about making curling more diverse and the role the World Mixed Curling Championships plays in curling’s growth.
Harold Woods on Instagram
Nigerian Curling Federation
Nigerian Curling’s GoFundMe
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The future of curling will rely on our ability to grow the game with younger demographics. But how do we get the next generation to play the sport and watch it on TV? John Allgood, Assistant Professor and Academic Director of the Executive Masters of Sports Business at Temple University, joins us to discuss this and many more topics related to sports marketing. John made a career out of selling sports like minor league baseball, pro bull riding and soccer and now he teaches the next generation of front office staff how to do the same. Join us as we find out how an emerging sport like curling can stand out in a crowded market.
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“Dear World curling community! Polish curlers have an important message for you. Please watch and share – we need all the curling countries to see this!”
The polish curling community is calling for member associations to vote to expel the Polish Curling Association at the WCF World Curling Congress Sept. 4-6.
Why would they want this? We talked to a Polish curler back in March to find out. In that episode, Marcin Madej provided insight into the history of curling in Poland, the division between the Polish Federation of Curling Clubs and the PCA and how the sport can move forward in his country.
And now for something completely different. Author and pro beach volleyball player Travis Mewhirter joins the show to discuss that sports’ growing pains since joining the Olympics. How alike are the two sports? Well, beach volleyball joined the Games around the same time and features self-formed teams in a tour-based system. They even had a player boycott in the 90s. We’ll learn about their successes and challenges and how we can apply them to curling.
The Sandcast Beach Volleyball Podcast
Travis Mewhirter on Instagram
Travis’ Amazon Author Page
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We are joined by Megan Balsdon and Derek Leung to discuss their research into curling and curling rocks. Both are competitive curlers and academics who are using science to help us better understand curling. Megan is studying how different types of brooms affect curling ice. Derek is looking at how different types of granite react when stones collide. We talk to them about their research and how they are helping us get a better understanding of sweeping and how curling stones behave. We revisit broomgate and ask Megan what we do and still do not know about how sweeping affects curl. We also discuss what she thinks curlers can learn from her research and what she hopes to study in the future. Derek explains why curling granite only comes from a few places on earth. Derek talks about his cool videos of curling stone collisions. We also discuss how his research into granite curling stones can inform other industries. Join us as we have a super nerdy talk about the science of curling.
Comparing Broom Conditions in Curling
Megan Balsdon on Twitter
Minerals Rock!
Derek Leung on Twitter
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Every Monday we podstack with Sean and Scott from Game of Stones Podcast on their Facebook page at 5 p.m. Eastern. This week we drafted curlers for a simulated season of Survivor, which will run next week. We also discussed the NBA, U.S. college football and zoos in addition to curling.
https://www.facebook.com/GameofStonesPodcast/videos/762230097923799/
Ken Pomeroy joins the podcast to talk analytics in curling. He is the founder of KenPom.com, which revolutionized the way we analyze college basketball. Ken is also a curler and has started applying some of his analytics to the curling world at DoubleTakeout.com. In this episode, we dive into how Ken got into the game and how analytics can change the way we play and think about curling.
DoubleTakeout.com
Ken Pomeroy on Twitter
Ep55: Cultivating Curling Calculations w/ Gerry Geurts
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This episode is all about building new dedicated curling facilities. We talk with Alan Hannah, who is working to build a new curling center in Glasgow, Scotland. Also, Liza Beres and Matt Gamboa of Hollywood Curling discuss the efforts to bring dedicated ice to Los Angeles.
Glasgow Ice Centre
Southern California Curling Center
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We welcome CurlingZone’s Gerry Geurts to the show to discuss the impact COVID-19 will have on the upcoming season, changes to curling’s ratings systems and ways competitive curling tours can help promote the growth of the sport. Jonathan also has an update for us on Scottish Curling’s selection system for the World Curling Championships.
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